Amid the continuous investigation into the flood control project scandal, Senator Bam Aquino is pushing for a bill that seeks the tap blockchain technology in the national budget as a means to curb corruption.

Tacklec during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology presided by Aquino was Senate Bill (SB) No. 1330--a measure mandating the creation of a National Budget Blockchain System to strengthen transparency, accountability, and public participation in the country's budget process.

The public hearing shed light on what blockchain technology does.

Jiro Louis Reyes of Bitskwela described blockchain as a notebook where transactions, records, data, and payments can be written on. But the thing with this notebook according to Reyes is that everyone has a copy of it; meaning that anyone from around the world can check its contents, anytime, anywhere.

He added that the blockchain was "tamper-proof", or something that cannot be deleted or altered, even by the President.

"No one party can destroy the blockchain and that is the whole beauty of it right now," he said.

In short, blockchain is a shared digital record that is secure, transparent, and very hard to cheat, says Reyes.

Aquino wondered if records in the blockchain truly can't be altered.

"Let's say na may scam na na-uncover, tapos gustong pagtakpan...gusto nilang baguhin, di nila kayang baguhin? (Let's say a scam was uncovered and then they want to cover it up…they want to change it, but they can’t, right?)" Aquino asked.

Reyes said that there's accountability in the blockchain; if there's such anomalous activity, it can be tracked from the source.

Lawyer Daniel John Fordan of the Philippine Association of Fintech Lawyers explains that with the use of blockchain, there are multiple synchronized copies held by different community members that make manipulation virtually impossible.

With the traditional system, he said there might be just one official record keeper maintaining the books.

"Pag nagkamali siya (If he makes a mistake) or worse, if he deliberately manipulates the records, it can be extremely difficult to detect."

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who also attended the hearing, said that as part of their commitment to the Open Government Partnership, they entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with BayaniChain Tech Inc., a company that specializes in enterprise and government blockchain solutions, last month.

"BayaniChain gave us a complimentary subscription of one year. This partnership aims to strengthen public accountability, provide permanent audit trails, and promote participatory governance," he said.

Magalong said that with their GoodGovChain platform, they will work on digitally recording infrastructure documents, procurement records, and city ordinances for permanent traceability and auditability, enable citizens to access and view all records through their dashboards, and provide an interactive feature where the public may submit feedback, raise clarifications, and report anomalies.

Aquino says that placing the national budget on the blockchain answers many concerns and issues with the current system. Where the budget process has been opaque, blockchain can make it transparent.

"Kung saan may mga insertions at kumpleto kuno na mga projects, makikita kung kailan at gaano katagal ang bidding, awarding, ang disbursement of funds. Lahat ng mga kontrata, bill of materials, lahat ‘yan, maaring makita pag natupad po ang batas na ito (Where there are insertions and supposedly completed projects, one will be able to see when and how long the bidding and awarding took, as well as the disbursement of funds. All contracts, bills of materials, everything can be accessed once this law is implemented)," he added.